Appreciating the Little Things

I’m realizing that my past few entries have been rather negative, as I hope and wait to get away and start living life the way I would like to again.  Yet, my time here at home has not been totally horrible.  It’s just easier to zone in on the negative or to get caught up in the daily grind, and completely overlook the people and things that I have in my life right now that make it worthwhile.  Recently, I received a bit of a wake up call to how short life really is, how it can change so quickly, unexpectedly, which refamiliarized me with the importance of living life in the moment and appreciating what I have.  All too often, I find myself anticipating something, just to be looking forward to something else in the midst of the first something.  I don’t want to go through life never really being happy or satisfied because I’m so intent on getting to that next step. 

Other than trying to get myself back into the habit of pursuing constant improvement to ideally better myself as a person, I’ve mostly just been working and trying to make good use of my time.  Oftentimes, there don’t seem to be enough hours in the day! 

At my current job, I’m supposed to get a second oven, which I’m more hopeful about since the cooling racks that I was promised when I started over a month ago were finally delivered.  Ideally, this would help to cut down on the time that I spend baking and create more manageable work hours. 

I’m still getting out every weekend for contra dancing and loving every minute of it!  I’ve also been trying to get more involved in the wildlife rehabilitation community through my volunteer work and attending meetings for the state’s wildlife organization.

Changes that Death Brings

There’s been a cartoon strip this past week depicting the harsh reality of life.  One frame shows a happy couple in their courting days, and in the second, the man, much older in years, visits the grave of his wife.  I keep glancing back and forth between these two pictures, their journey through life and the journey after death, pitying what this man has lost.  At a time in life, one can feel on top of the world, almost invincible, without a care in the world, so to speak.  Yet, so soon it can change and life is taken away, for no one can escape death no matter how much one ignores the prospect of it.

Oftentimes, it seems that it is not something to concern oneself with, as if it’s something that only happens to other people until it happens to you.  It makes one wake up and take notice of what one has, how precious it is.  It is difficult to imagine life being any different with the changes and sacrifices that we must make.  How will I respond?  What will I do?  How will I change?  What is required of me? I am uncertain of the best course of action.  Yet, I can’t let death get the best of me.  It will happen no matter how much or how little I dwell on it.  And the more I dwell on it, the more miserable I will be, and I will not be able to fully appreciate the life that is here now.  I need to live in the present, recall the past fondly , and learn from its lessons and meet the future with courage.